New Zealand-born Australian Houston, a former player with Super Rugby franchise Queensland Reds, has been impressed by Burgess ever since he first laid eyes on him Down Under.

“It’s awesome and everyone is excited because he’s such a world-class player,” said 27-year-old number eight Houston.

“I’ve watched him on YouTube but I’m going to start following him on Twitter to hopefully get to know him a bit.

“I’m from Australia so I’ve seen him play for the Rabbitohs and he’s outstanding. Personally I’m very excited for him to come. I can’t wait to play with him.

“I didn’t get to see him live because our Super Rugby games were on at the same time but I watched it every week on TV and he’s an outstanding player.

“Him coming over to Australia was huge at that time and the media must be crazy now with him coming back to play rugby union over here. Because he’s such a world-class player, everyone wants to know about him.

“Hopefully a lot of players of that high calibre are looking at Bath and thinking: ‘Wow, I’d love to play for them because of the exciting way they play on the field’.”